


A (kind of) casual social gathering

by Micte



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Romance, prompt, super hero AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:29:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4306899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Micte/pseuds/Micte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: “i’m the superhero’s sidekick and you’re the superhero but i don’t know that and we both met on a speed-dating-night and you look really familiar?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moves like Tony

**Author's Note:**

> THE NAME OF THIS FIC SUCKS IM SO SORRY I JUST COULDNT FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE. but anyway, this was super fun to write, i just need to figure out the end (so many things that could happen)

“Tell me one more time why we’re doing this?”

 

“Because together we’re like Tony Stark.”

 

Jupiter looked at Katherine with a raised eyebrow as she usually did when the girl took her off guard with her weird metaphors.

 

“I just thought about it!” said the blonde laughing, “You’re the genius philanthropist and I’m the billionaire maneater–”

 

“I think you got that quote wrong…”

 

“BUT,” Katherine wouldn’t give in to Jupiter’s inner geek because one: she knew she would lose but it didn’t matter because her theory was solid and two: they needed to hurry and it was hard enough to drag Jupiter around the city without the girl looking for trivia in her phone, “there is just one thing missing: Pepper Pots. Tony Stark is NOTHING without Pepper and that’s why we need boyfriends…”

 

“Why can’t we be Tony and Pepper? We already got the hair.”

 

“Because you’re not my type Jupiter…”

 

“Then why don’t you get a smart assistant to seduce instead of dragging me to this speed-dating bull –

 

“Shhh!” Katherine silenced Jupiter with her finger and stopped walking; they had arrived to Cerise, a seemingly cozy restaurant in Chicago’s downtown with a sign by the door that read: Open Speed-Dating Night!!!

 

Other people were arriving, so Katherine dragged her friend a few steps away to get nose to nose with her and fiercely whisper, “Language Jupiter! The Queen of Justice shouldn’t be heard saying such–”

 

“Nobody knows I’m the Queen of Justice!,” the girl half murmured licking Katherine’s finger so she would flinch away, “I can swear all I want when I’m not wearing the mask! And you’re my partner not my mother!”

 

“Well as your partner AND best friend I’m super worried about your sex life! You’re never going to get laid again, let alone meet a decent guy if you spend half your time cleaning toilets, the other half in the lab and the other half fighting crime and… that odd… super villain…”

 

Jupiter sighed and nodded in understanding; she had a pretty weird nemesis but they weren’t discussing him right now.

 

(At least not without alcohol)

 

“I don’t need a boyfriend Katherine,” said Jupiter for the nine hundredth time and her friend gave her a tiny smile.

 

“But you need to have fun. Being a hero is not all you are.”

 

Jupiter nodded, “You’re right. I’m also a maid, and a nerd, and illegal,” Jupiter started counting with her fingers while Katherine pushed her towards the restaurant, “and _Ironman_ sounds so much cooler than _Queen of Justice_ …”

 

“I know. Someday we’ll make that BeeLover blogger pay for her crimes too…”


	2. We're up all night to get lucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Jupiter daydreams to avoid reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like i also need to apologize about the chapter names... oh well.

Jupiter knew her life couldn’t be described with the exact definition of fun, but Katherine couldn’t deny it was pretty interesting: she literally cleaned luxurious houses and apartments with her mother and aunt in the mornings then she cleaned her own mess at the laboratories of the Physics’ Department at the Aegis University (so nobody would find that Diomika Tsing, head of the department, had allowed some self proclaimed genius use the empty labs for a questionable but noble quest as a night vigilante) and after that she figuratively cleaned the streets of Chicago from petty criminals, thieves and the occasional shrieking bastard who wanted to rule the world.

She didn’t have time for men. But a side-kick, maybe…

She let her mind wander to Chicago’s second most popular hero as they entered the restaurant. An extremely enthusiastic guy who introduced himself as Bob started distributing blank sticker nametags and explaining the rules but she ignored him completely while thinking about The Guardian Angel.

The name was so cheesy and predictable Jupiter couldn’t help but laugh when she saw it in the papers the next day after the guy appeared out of nowhere, flying with impressive dark brown wings to save her life, all heroic while saying “I got you” with a low voice and then joined her to fight hairless rat mutants that were stealing diamonds for some reason, but then she felt bad because the name wasn’t the guy’s fault at all: that damned BeeLover blogger had thousands of followers on Twitter and no one ever thought of questioning her the moment she hashtaged a famous battle: #TQoJ teams up with #TheGuardianAngel VS #TheWickedMice ! Read more on …

After that first fight he kept showing up, always catching her mid-air when her anti-gravity boots got damaged or simply failed (she had been trying to improve her father’s original design but it was trickier than she thought).

Besides his typical “I got you” whispered into Jupiter’s ear every time he saved her, The Guardian Angel was mostly silent and Jupiter regretted that she couldn’t see much of his face with that damn mask and black hoodie but she had been close enough to notice the color of his eyes and maybe sometimes she held too tight to him just to be sure she wasn’t imagining the muscles underneath his clothes.

He had been appearing to fight by her side so often in the last few months that she wasn’t even scared the night before when a mutant-lizard-man threw her out of a roof and –

“Get to your tables! We start in thirty seconds!”

“Good luck!” said Katherine walking away from Jupiter. The brunette turned around confused and she found a little paper with the number 8 in her hand. When did Bob give it to her?

“Twenty!”

“Shit,” Jupiter moved fast and sat on her table without looking at the guy in front of her. She put her phone on her lap, her purse on the floor and then took her jacket off, thinking about how awkward the whole evening was going to be. She really didn’t want to do this, because no matter how many strangers she met that night, and how wonderful they were, she could only think about Chicago’s Guardian Angel.

And it was pretty obvious that no man in Cerise had wings.

“Teeeeeeeeeeen!” Bob announced in a high-pitched voice.

“You didn’t write your name on the tag,” said a grave voice and she froze. Her first thought was that once again she was going to go through the whole “What a weird name!” routine and she was too tired to do that.

But then she had a second thought, and it was so much more exciting…

“Fiiiiiiiiiiiiive!” and Bob was SO annoying.

“Here,” said the guy with a voice she knew, (a voice she’d dreamed of most nights), leaving a pen in front of her, “I got you.”

Jupiter’s heart started beating faster.

“Threeeeeeeeeeeee!” she would yell at Bob to shut the fuck up if she weren't about to freak out.

She raised her eyes slowly and read his nametag: it said “Caine” with messy handwriting.

“So, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Twooooooooooooo!”

She looked him in the eyes and bit her lips before giggling like an idiot but she didn’t care: could it be that after all those dirty toilets and the lies to her mom and the bruises and blood… could it be that after a life of disappointments and unrealistic high expectations, good luck was actually on her side that night?

“Ooooooooone…”

And it was all thanks to Katherine’s dumb idea.

“Aaaaaaaaand it begins! You have ten minutes before switching partners!” said Bob and then (thank God) he shut up.


	3. The only exception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Jupiter's not really flirting 'cuz this is not really a date.

“I have so many questions,” said Jupiter, filled with that fuzzy feeling she only got while opening presents on Christmas or while surfing the air.

 

“First you have to answer mine,” said ~~The Guardian Angel~~ Caine but she didn’t pay attention to his words: she was amazed to find that even if she hadn’t imagined him exactly as he was in real life, she had totally guessed his style: his posture and his short blond hair screamed “ARMY!”

 

(Yes, she had some legionnaire fantasies in her repertoire, but moving on…)

 

Was the government messing around again with that super soldier serum shit?

 

Caine’s eyes drifted to the blank nametag on the table and she came back to reality.

 

“Oh, no way. I’m not telling you my secret identity… yet,” she said hoping it didn't sound as flirty as it felt because she wasn’t flirting (yet) but she had the right to protect herself and her friends and family, right? “You have to earn it,” she continued because she had actually forgotten how to shut the fuck up and Katherine was too far away to kick her ass.

 

“But you know mine,” he said pointing at his tag, “is only fair.”

 

“Why would you write your real name?”

 

“Because I’m not wearing a mask. It’s Saturday night, and I’m in a restaurant. I didn’t think you’d be here…”

 

“Neither did I…” she said remembering the purpose of that evening and that she was supposed to meet new people, instead of finding her most trusty ally in a (kind of) casual social gathering for the very first time. She noticed then that he recognized her from the moment she sat in front of him, “how did you know it was me?” she asked, because Katherine was very careful with the clothes and wigs and make up so she would be hard to identify via the surveillance cameras. And yet, he always found her.

 

Caine looked away and mumbled, “I recognized your scent,” barely opening his mouth and then looked at her straight in the eye and asked one more time for her name.

 

Jupiter had to read his lips to understand him and the idea of kissing him distracted her so she almost answered the question but his first words made sense just in time.

 

“My scent? Like… you can track me?!” she was equally horrified and fascinated. Did he have enhanced senses? Was he indeed a super soldier, commissioned by the government? But most important: What did she smell like? And did he like it? She knew something good was going on in her brain when she asked instead, “Where are your wings?”

 

“Yes… yes. And they’re attached to my body,” his voice went from hesitant to technical and Jupiter noted for the first time that he hadn’t taken off his coat, but she didn’t see the irritation starting to take over his face “Would you like to tell me your name now, Your Majesty?”

 

She knew that he was getting impatient and that he meant to tease or even bother her, because her super hero identity was ridiculous, but instead of getting angry, she was starting to feel…

 

“Say that again,” she ordered with a hoarse voice, forgetting once again where she was and that they were not alone.

 

“You mean… Your Majesty?” he leaned over the table, his hands getting closer to where Jupiter’s were protecting the blank tag, as if her name was actually written on it.

 

His eyes were intense and she remembered a little too late that he could actually _smell_ her.

 

_Oh God._

“That name… it wasn’t actually my choice, you know?” she put almost all her weight on her elbows to get closer to him.

 

“I know, I kind of suggested it...” he failed to repress a smile when he saw how big her eyes could get and continued, “remember your first public appearance? Three years ago?”

 

She did. It had been completely improvised since she hadn’t yet mastered the art of mid-air surfing and she was training with Diomika when Katherine called to inform them of a bank robbery that became a hostage situation. The blonde had forgotten completely about the disguise party she was supposed to attend and met them at the university.

 

“It’s now or never,” the girl had said, taking off her clothes and handing the brunette a golden mask, “You have to help them”.

 

Jupiter hesitated for a moment: she looked at Diomika and thought about everything that had lead her to that moment: the murder of her father, her mother crossing the ocean in fear, a childhood full of questions without answers and teenage years trying to find them with Katherine’s help. Then Diomika arrived with what was left of Maximilian Jones’ life and the girl’s had an idea that could make the world a better place.

 

And so she saved twelve people with nothing but her anti-gravity boots, a gold shiny party dress and a stun gun.

 

The media went crazy.

 

“Yeah, I remember that the dress wasn’t bulletproof…”

 

“You looked like royalty,” Caine continued, smiling at the memory of her first public photographs, “and when I said as much Kiza couldn’t resist it…”

 

“Kiza? You mean… the BeeLover girl on twitter?”

 

“Yeah,” Caine smiled and it was so carefree for a second that Jupiter actually felt like they were on a date. But it wasn’t a (normal) date and he shouldn’t be smiling like that if he wasn’t going to kiss her.

 

“Who are you?” she asked at last what she really wanted to know, “And what are you doing here?”

 

His smile vanished slowly and she regretted her questions instantly.

 

“My name is Caine Wise and I’m here to help you… but before that I was hired to take you down…”

 

_Oh. Of course._

This was Super Hero Angst 101: crushing on the assassin hired to kill you. But Caine certainly didn’t look like one of her nemesis’ minions (who were more part animal than human… and only wore designer clothes because why not) and he was probably the shittiest hired gun in Chicago, since he kept catching her instead of letting her fall.

 

“And why am I still alive?” she asked and it was a serious question but her mind was racing with the possibilities and the softness of her voice betrayed her. Could he be feeling the same way she did? Was this Hitman Angst 101: crushing on your target?

 

She thought she might be right when Caine’s cheeks turned red and his eyes lowered to his hands as he answered.

 

“I figured you look prettier when you’re breathing…” he said nervously and that made her smile. She liked a lot this side of him: a little bit more chatty than usual with the blushed cheeks and the shy teasing instead of his stoic disciplined expression with the occasional “Watch out!” roar in the middle of battle.  

 

“I certainly do. So that first night…”

 

“With the mutant-mice–”

 

“ _Wicked_ Mice,” she corrected and the laughter helped him relax.

 

“I took the job so they wouldn’t hire someone else. And then I decided to stick around when they did…”

 

It all made sense now. Jupiter remembered two weirdos that had attacked her during one of her night patrols a few weeks after the Wicked Mice Battle: a black man with feathers for hair, armed with a sonic gun (seriously, where did all these bad guys came from?) and a blue haired woman on a flying motorbike that made Jupiter’s heart flutter with the beauty of it. It was good that Caine had arrived to help because she could have never find it in her to destroy that glorious machine.

 

Why did some genius engineers had to be evil? That woman and Jupiter could have been best science buds if she hadn’t tried to kill her with her awesome technology.

 

A waitress arrived then and left two beers on their table. Jupiter wasn’t sure if it was included in the event fee or if she had to pay for it later. Caine raised his glass to her.

 

“For the Queen of Justice,” he whispered and Jupiter chuckled, “and all the lives she has saved so far…”

 

“And for Chicago’s Guardian Angel and the impressive ways he finds to disappoint his evil bosses…” she said and they drank at the same time.

 

“So,” Jupiter let her glass down and tried to get serious, “Who hired you? Was it The–” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. It was hard talking about _him_ while sober and to somebody who wasn’t Katherine or Diomika. She was conscious that he was a real threat to her life with his army of genetically modified cronies, but that fact didn’t make it easier to ask her next question with a straight face, “Did my nemesis, _The Dragon Lord_ , hired you to kill me?”

 

They looked at each other for a few seconds, letting her words sink before Caine snickered and Jupiter exploded out with laughter, making some heads turn annoyed in their direction.

 

“I think so. I’ve only seen him on T.V. but he sent a woman with… deer ears to contact me...”

 

Seeing the man with the six meter wings finding a woman with deer ears weird was ironic.

 

“Did you get in trouble for failing your mission?”

 

“Yeah. But it was worth it,” Caine looked at her again with that intensity that made her wonder if his super senses could catch the beating of her heart and now she was blushing, “So, what’s the deal with… The Dragon Lord? Why is he your nemesis?”

 

“Wow, a question that doesn’t involve my name. Are you giving up?”

 

“I thought you preferred ‘Your Majesty’.”

 

_This man can’t be real._

 

She didn’t contradict him and cleared her throat to compose herself before continuing.

 

“The… Dragon… _Lord_ …” God, that would never stop being bizarre, “likes to steal from the government. He’s favorite things are nuclear, radioactive or incrusted with diamonds. And since I believe that thieves should be in jail… we were on a rough patch from the beginning. Have you seen his videos on Youtube?”

 

“Yeah. Does he always talk like…?”

 

“Like he’s pushing a dragon egg out of his own ass? Yes, always! But listen, I have a theory…”

 

“FIIIIIIIIIIIVE MINUTES ONLY!”

 

Jupiter actually felt sad at the sound of Bob’s cheery voice, (not that he had inspired any positive feelings since she got there) and she looked at Caine with a worried face. Was that all they got? Would they pretend it never happened and continue to be only (Heaven forbid!) platonic crime fighting partners?

 

Would it be right to ask for a second date?

 

He gave her a little reassuring smile while shaking his head, “So, what’s your theory?”

 

Oh yeah, _Dragon Lord_.

 

“I think I discovered my nemesis’ secret identity,” said Jupiter, trying not to think about all of the possible exits she had marked when she arrived to the restaurant, so she wouldn't sneak Caine out of there when their time was up. Katherine would hate her… or would she?, “Do you know Balem Abrasax? The CEO of Abrasax Industries?”

 

Caine’s eyebrows almost touched with his confusion, “But the guy can barely talk…”

 

“Yes, exactly! I think he has some repressed anger issues and he uses his alter ego to vent…”

 

“But he’s rich. Why would he need to steal?”

 

“Because money makes you evil! And he must be planning something really bad like… wiping all human race off the planet so he and his little monsters can rule over the-” it was out of her mouth before she could think of what she was saying and Caine’s blank expression confirmed her fears, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I know not all of you… genetically engineered… people…?” that was terrible, she needed to fix it, “you are not all bad you… human… experiments?” that was even worse, “Oh my god, please help me so I can shut up”.

 

Caine crossed his arms over his chest and shifted uncomfortable on his chair, “They call us Splices,” he offered with a neutral voice and Jupiter knew she had hurt him, at least a little, but he wouldn't let it show, “There’s an underground organization, the Ourus Group, they experiment with animal and human DNA all over the world… some of us are lucky enough to scape, but the rest are sold to serve people like your nemesis…”

 

“That is horrible,” said Jupiter wanting to reach out to touch his arm and comfort him but she didn’t, “How did you scape? Aren’t they going to find you if you keep helping me? Do you need somewhere to hide?” She had to bit her lip to shut up. Suddenly it was getting harder to breath so she looked up at the ceiling trying not to think of all the implications of what Caine had just explained. She heard him sigh and when their eyes crossed his expression had soften and his hands were once more over the table.

 

“I can’t give you all the details of my secret identity. You have to earn them,” he said offering a little side smile and Jupiter thought there wasn’t a thing she wouldn’t try to do to earn him.

 

“So, before I became in insensitive idiot, my point was that Balem Abrasax is the Dragon Lord. And I’m not the only one who thinks that, there are other people on the Internet making connections…”

 

“I know. Kiza’s one of them,” said Caine leaning closer, “but she’s convinced that it must be his little brother…”

 

“Titus?”

 

“Yeah. She thinks he looks like a teenage Bond villian.”

 

“It’s true, he does.”

 

“But he just looks like a spoiled brat to me. I’m more worried about the sister, Kalique.”

 

“What? Why? She’s adorable!” Jupiter loved looking at her red carpet pictures; her dresses were always gorgeous. And Katherine had actually met her several times and she had never mentioned anything out of the ordinary.

 

“Her smile creeps me out. She’s evil.”

 

His distrust and the way suspicion made his eyelids fall made her smile.

 

“Maybe we’re giving in too easily to the British villain stereotype,” said the girl and then she had an idea, “but there’s just one way to know for sure...”

 

“Which is…?” Caine was now sitting at the edge of his chair and their hands were almost touching.

 

“I think we should look into this. Together,” she let her fingers trace the knuckles of his left hand, “Maybe if we spend a lot of time together, you know, investigating… following people to coffee shops or watching Bond movies, for research… maybe then we can find out who’s the real bad guy…” her eyes left their hands and she found Caine leaning over her, almost nose to nose, with his gaze set on her lips, “Maybe we’ll find that we’re good together for other things… besides fighting crime…”

 

“Yeah, maybe…” she could feel his warm breath and his fingers going from her hand to her wrist. 

 

She closed the distance to kiss him as Bob announced that the first round was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok i wanted to keep the song names for the chapters and i settled on this one because Caine IS the only man with wings in Cerise. 
> 
> Is late and i'm sleepy, I'm sorry.


End file.
